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A malicious software that downed Sony Pictures computers and pirated at least five major films has heightened anxiety over a new wave of cyber attacks aimed at outright destruction.

Along with disabling email and damaging other IT systems, the breach dubbed “Sonypocalypse” resulted in the online dump of a trove of sensitive personal information on thousands of employees.

It disclosed a lack of diversity in the Sony Pictures’ workforce and revealed that Canadian-born actor Seth Rogen was paid more than co-star James Franco for his role in the upcoming Sony film The Interview, which Rogen also co-wrote.

The FBI in an unusual move Monday issued a “flash” warning advising U.S. companies to guard against an emerging breed of malware attacks designed to vandalize and discredit — rather than just steal.

“The main news story is the abrupt shift from theft to destructive vandalism,” said Dr. Mike Lloyd, chief technology officer at security consultants RedSeal.

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“Most breaches tend to focus on stealing valuable data, not outright destruction. While some of the data—related to unreleased movies—was stolen and exposed, the attackers’ (were) intent on damaging equipment.”

Reuters in a report said the attack is the “first major destructive cyber-attack waged against a company on U.S. soil,” noting that similar incidents have been observed in Asia and the Middle East. Many experts believe the attacks are sponsored by North Korea and Iran.

The attack on Sony has already been costly to Sony Pictures, the U.S. entertainment unit of Japan’s Sony, which is expected to spend millions on restoring its computer network alone.

That’s not to mention lost income from more than 1.2 million downloads of hacked pre-screen copies of Fury with Brad Pitt and more than 206,000 downloads of the remake of Annie.

The incident has also spread beyond Sony as hackers appear to have released documents containing salary information for more than 30,000 employees of professional services firm Deloitte. The New York-based firm in a statement said the alleged material is nine-year-old data from a non-Deloitte system.

A group called GoP or Guardians of Peace says it perpetrated the Sony attack as a form of revenge for corporate wrongdoing and will continue to target the company until is complies with an unspecified demand.

In 2011 the Hack Anonymous group claimed responsibility for a breach of Sony’s PlayStation and PlayStation network websites, saying it had declared war on Sony. Anonymous said a Sony lawsuit against a New Jersey researcher accused of “jailbreaking” or unlocking a PS3 console is an attack on free speech.

That latest Sony attack could be a sort of sequel to the 2011 incident although reports have drawn a link with Kim Jong-un, who is reportedly livid over the plot of The Interview, which revolves around an attempt to kill the North Korean leader.

Reuters has quoted unnamed sources as saying investigators had found links to North Korea in the form of hacking tools which had been used by them in previous attacks on South Korea. North Korea has denied any connection to the breach and Sony is distancing itself from the reports.

The hack at Sony Pictures occurred last week but became apparent Monday morning when an image of a skeleton with the phrase “Hacked By #GOP” appeared superimposed on computer screens at the company.

Sony Pictures’ network was offline for two days until employees were given replacement login credentials.

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